Street-sweeper.



A. BROWN.

STREET SWEEPER.

APPLICATION FILED 05c. 20, 1913.

LMQQQQQ Patented June 22, 1915 3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

ATTORNEYS A. BROWN.

STREET SWEEPER.

APPLICATlON FILED DEC-20.1913. 1,144,292, Patented June 22, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES A. BROWN.

STREET SWEEPER.

APPLICATION FILED 05c. 20, 1913.

Patented June 22, 1915.

WITNESSES ges * ar prion.

ALVIN BROWN, or rnsmrrnnn, ILLINOIS.

' STREET-SWEEPER.

maaaaa.

i Specification of Letters Patent. Patented JIHIB 22, 1915.

Application filed December 20, 1913. Serial No. 807,906.

To all whom it may concern:

- Be it' knownthat I, ALVIN BROWN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Plainfield, in the county of Will and State frame is flexibly supported front axle D carrying the front wheels D" and having sultable steering connections as partly seen at D 1n Fig. 2, connected to the steering of Illinois, have invented a new and useful post D the steering wheel D of which is 60 Improvement in Street-Sweepers, of which located contiguous to the drivers seat E the following is a specification. upon the upper forward portion of the body My present invention relates to street .13. The upper portion E of the front wall sweepers and more particularly to a selfof the body E is spaced from the rear wall 5 propelled marhine of this character, form- B of the hood, as seen particularly in Fig.-

ing an improvement upon my Patent No. 3, forming a closed space or chamber F, ex- 7 75,163, issued to me under date of Novemtending transversely across the entire forber 15, 1904. ward portion of the body and through The object of my present invention is to which space is mounted a transverse shaft 70 provide a wholly metallic structure in which G, the outer ends of which project laterally the several operating parts may be driven beyond the opposite sides of the body E. from the motor used to propel the vehicle At a substantially central point shaft G is and in which their adjustment either to provided with a bevel gear 9 in mesh with compensate for wear or to throw the same a bevel gear 0 at the rear end of the motor 75 into and out of operation may be' readily shaft 0, before mentioned, shaft G also carand' quickly accomplished with minimum rying a spur gear g at an intermediate labor. point, this gear being loose on the shaft A further object of my invention is to e and rigidly connected to one part H of a provide such connections for controlling the clutch, which part'is also loose on the shaft so parts in operation as may be located con-' and adapted to be engaged by the other I venient to the driver and operator of the part H of the clutch which has a splined vehicle and controlled by him from his seat. connection upon the shaft and is controlled Further objects and the advantages reby means of a lever H extending upwardly sulting therefrom will be apparent from the adjacent the drivers seat E. This clutch 5 following description, in which reference is and its connections are best seen in dotted made to the accompanying drawings, formlines in Fig. 2. ing a part of this specification and in which, The gear 9' is in mesh with a gear 6 se- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my im cured upon a shaft I mounted through the proved street sweeper, partly broken away space or chamber parallel with and above so and in section to better illustrate certain the shaft G and also having its ends proparts thereof, Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, jecting laterally through the sides of the Fig. 3 is a vertical, longitudinal section body E. The body E is hollow throughout taken therethrough on an enlarged scale, and preferably formed from sheet-metal, its Fig. '4 is a detailed section taken through upper wall E being bent downwardly at as certain parts substantially on the line 44 the rear of the body and the rear downof Fig. 1, and Figf5is asimilar View taken wardly inclined chamber E of the body, through certain. parts substantially on the which is open at its lower end, is dlvided at line 5-5 of Fig. 1. its lower portion from the forward cham- Referring now to these figures, the frame ber E by means of a vertical transverse 100 of my improved street sweeper is generally bafiie plate or Wall E, upon theupper edge U-shaped in form and consists of a reof which the upper extension hinge plate ,7 duced forward portion A and outwardly v of the downwardly and rearwardly inclined ofi'set rear extensions A, the particular dust-pan J enga es. 1 shape of this frame being such as to enable The rear cham er E constitutes a brush 105 it to follow along the outlines of the body chamber and the forward chamber 1L forms of the vehicle. Upon the forward portion a dust or storage chamber, the lower, open A of the frame is supported a hood B which end of the latter being normally closed by incloses a motor of any desire structure, hinged doors K movable to lower, open posithe main shaft of which is indicated by tions by their own weight, these doors hav- 11c dotted lines at C in Fig. 2. d ing depending roller brackets k engaged by Below the forward portion A of the a chain L, the rear end of which is secured at Z beneath the body E, and the intermediate portion of which is passed over a roller bracket Z beneath the body E between thedoors K. The forward end of chain L is secured to a short shaft M, constituting a drum upon which the forward portion of the chain may be Wound as illustrated by comparison of Figs. 1 and 3, the shaft M being mounted through brackets M secured upon the lower front ortion of the body beneath the frame. haft M carries a ratchet wheel M and one of the brackets M has an extension m upon which is pivoted a pawl m having its nose in engagement with the ratchet wheel M and having an upwardly inclined and curved tail 711?.

An operating lever N is mounted with its upper handle portion within reach of the operator and has a lower, inwardly offset end journaled upon a portion of the shaft M, the lever being provided adjacent its lower end with a pivoted pawl n in engagement with the ratchet wheel M Thus by the use of the lever, the ratchet wheel may be turned to wind the chain L upon the shaft M in order to throw the doors upwardly to closed position, pawl m serving to hold the ratchet wheel after each actuation by lever N and serving also to hold the doors closed. When, however, it is desired to release the chain and allow the doors to drop, lever N is thrown in an extreme forward position as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, causing its pawl to ride upon the inclined, curved tail m of the pawl m so as to raise the nose of the latter out of engagement with the ratchet wheel and permit the shaft M to freely rotate.

The rear axle O is extended transversely through the body within the brush chamber E and carries the rear wheels 0 upon its ends. The rear axle or shaft O also carries sprocket wheels 0 .upon its extended ends and beyond the side walls of the body E, these sprocket! wheels being connected by forwardly extending sprocket chains 0 to sprocket wheels 9 mounted u on the outwardly projecting ends of t e forward driven shaft G, it being noted that these chains and sprocket wheels are covered by supplemental side gear casings P secured upon the sides of the body E. The upper shaft Q of the endless brush chains R carries sprocket wheels Q around which the upper portions of the chains R travel, and is mounted transversely through the body E and through the upper forward portion of the brush chamber E This upper shaft Q is also extended through the upper forward ends of downwardly and rearwardly inclined bars S connecting the upper and lower shafts of the brush as hereinafter described, and is provided upon its outwardly sprocket wheels z" of the upper forward shaft 1, before mentioned, it being noted that these sprocket wheels and sprocket chains are also inclosed within the supplemental side gear casings P.

The bars S above mentioned extend along the inner surfaces of the sides of the body E within the brush chamber E andthrough the lower portions of these bars are journaled the ends of the lower transverse-brush shaft T carrying sprocket wheels T about which the lower portions'of the brush chains R travel, these brush chains carrying spaced transverse clips R in which the tufts of bristles R are secured.

The lower portion of the brush travels upwardly over the downwardly and rearwardly inclined dust-pan J, before mentioned, the bristles contacting with the surface ofthe ground through the lower open end of the brush chamber E at the lower rear end of the dust-pan, in order to move wardly over the rear portion of the body over guide-rollers u and beneath spaced rollers u. At a point between these rollers, and as particularly shown in Fig. 2', the rear end of. a lever V is connected to the flexible member U, this lever V being intermediately pivoted at 1; upon a bracket '0 upstanding upon the body E and its forward end being extended to a point above and adjacent the operators seat, whereby it may be conveniently within the operators reach for downward movement to raise the hinged rear portion j of the dust-pan out of contact with the surface of the ground when the brush is inactive through disen-.

gagement of the clutch members H and H, before described.

At the upper end of the dust-pan J'is a W, the upper and lower ends of which arejournaled through bearings 6 extended outwardly from the sides of the body E above and below its slots 6. .As will be seen also i in Fig. 5, the lower end of each of the screw rods W is provided with a bevel gear 10 engaging a similar gear rw upon the respective end of a shaft W, j ournaled transversely through the body beneath the dust-pan and one end of which is extended and squared ment for rotating shaft W to move the a rod J up or down and adjust the dust-pan J accordingly. The extreme up er position of this dust-pan is indicated n dotted lines in Fig. 3 and its adjustment 1s accomplished in order to accord with the adjustment of the brush.

The brush is adjustable to compensate for its wear in use, and to this end the lower extremi ties of side bars S are provided with laterally extending ears S projecting outwardly through arcuate slots e formed in the lower rear portions of the sides of the body E concentric with the shaft Q upon which bars S swing. These ears S are slotted and through their slots are extended screw rods X, portions of which are journaled through bearings e projecting from the body sides at the opposite ends of the slots and the upper ends of which screw rods are provided with bevel gears ac,- meshing with bevel gears' w upon the ends of a-transverse shaft X, one end of this latter being extended and squared as at m in Fig. 2 similar to the end to of the 'sha' W, to receive a like implementfor rotat ng the shaft and the screw rods X Between the ears S of each bar S is disposed a slotted block 8 having a'transverse bore in which is disposed a circular nut 8', this nut having a ,threaded aperture in which the screw rod works. Thus when the screw rods X are rotated, the lower ends of the brush side bars S may be raised or lowered as desired, lowering movement being necessary from time to tlme in order to compensate for the wear by the bristles.

1 tures through which ()n the upper rear portion-of the bodyis a substantially triangular water tank Y projecting transversely thereacross upon the downwardly inclined rear portion of the body top, the lower end of this tank being connected by a valved-vertical pipe .y extending into the brush chamber E? with a spray pipe Y located in said brush chamber and having a plurality of minute apera-fine spray may be directed upwardly over the brush, as particularly seen in Fig. 3. The valve 3 in pipe 1 has an arm 51/ pivotally connected to an upright link y the upper end of which link is'similarlyconnected to one;arm, of a bell-crank-lever y". The other arm of this bell-crank-lever is pivotally connected tothe rear end ofa longitudinally movable acand adjacent to the operators seat in order that the operatormay conveniently move the same 'forwardlyand rearwardly to open and close the valve The upper portion of tank Y above the surface of the Water forms an air chamber into which airisforced through a pipe -with a foot-lever 12 the drivers seat E. tuating bar Y the forward end of which is provided with a handle, disposed above" leading from a rotary pump Y which re-v ceives its rotation through a sprocket chain "'connection 1 from the upper forward shaft I. Thus the pressure of air 'upon the water serves to discharge the water from pipe Y in an upward direction and in a fine spray. Hinged at its upper edge at 2 within the upper portion of the body E immediately in the rear of the operators seat E 1s a depending brush clearing plate Z, the lower edge of which is adapted to be adjusted by an adjusting bar Z into the path of movement of the brush bristles in order that the latter may strike the plate and free themselves ofclinging particles of dirt and refuse matter, adjusting bar Z being extended forwardly through the front of the body E below the operators seat so as to be within convenient, reach. a

Thus from the foregoing it Wlll be seen that the motor with its usual clutching mechanism propels the vehicle by virtue of i the connections described-between the same body,'the connections between driven shaft G and the brush serving to rotate the latter from the motor and being independently.

at one side of the body E is .extendedto form a vertical tubular portion 1?, in which tubular portion is arranged a vertical shaft 1- having a horizontal brush-head 2 at its lower end provided with depending bristles 3, this brush'being adapted for contact with the ground at a point in advance ofthe rear wheel 0 upon t e same side of the body E. The shaft 1 is rotatable and vertically adjustable in bearings 4; and'is provided with a splined bevel gear 5, mounted upon a stud shaft 7 as seen in dotted lines in Fig. 2, which shaft is journaled through the adjacent side wall of the body E, and is provided within the body with a sprocket wheel connected by a chain 8 to mounted upon the upper forward shaft 1. A clip 9 has a swiveled connection with'the upper end of the shaft 1' and is secured to one end of a flexible connection 10, passing overguide-pulleys 11 upon the adjacent body side and united at its opposite end in front of and below In this manner the brush-head 2 is normally driven when clutch membersH and H are engaged to impart rotation to the main tles 3 being in contact with the surface of the ground to throw the "dust and dirt bea sprocket wheel and the rear axle upon opposite sides of the v sweeperbrush, the brisground and the action of the supplemental brush, therefore, discontinues.

It is to be understood that any suitable braces or structural stay members may be employed where desired throughout the body and frame of the sweeper and that I have purposely avoided illustration of a multiplicity of such braces and stay members in order that the operating parts may be more plainly seen and better understood.

I claim:

"1% In a street sweeper, the combination of an endless sweeper belt mounted to swing at its upper end in order that its lower end may beadjusted toward and away from the, ground, arod extending horizontallyand transversely beneath the upper end of the sweeper, a body within which the sweeper is disposed, and beyond the sides of which the ends of the said rod project, a dust pan with which the sweeper coiiperates, disposed within this body and having its upper end carried by the said rod, said dust pan having an upper inner extension hinged on the said rod to swing freely with respect thereto, means external of each side of the body and'engaging the projecting ends of the rod sweeper belt travels, journaled in the'lower portions of the said side bars, the said lower portions of the side bars having laterally extendlng ears projecting outwardly through the slots of the body, means external of each side of the body/and engaging said extendmg ears for adjusting the lower end of the brush vertically, and connections between said adjusting means whereby to render their in vements simultaneous.

3. In a street sweeper, the combination of a body, an endless sweeper belt operating within the body, an adjustable clearing plate hinged at its upper end within the body and having its lower end movable into and v out of the path of movement of the brush whereby to engage the latter in operation,

and an adjusting rod pivotally onnectedat its rear end to the lower end of aid clearing plate and having its forward end extending forwardly through the body to a point con-' venient to the operator thereof, for the purpose described.

4. In a street sweeper, the combination of an endless sweeper belt mounted to swing at its upper end in order that its lower end may be adjusted toward and away from the I ground, a dust pan with which the sweeper reception of an implement whereby to cause the rotation thereof, the upper end of the dust pan being connected to and carried by the said horizontal rod to be adjusted.

5. In a street sweeper, the combination of a body having-arcuate slots in the lower rear portion of its sides, a brush within the body comprising an endless sweeper belt, anupper transverse driven shaft upon which the upper portion of the belt travels, side bars j ournaled at their upper ends upon the upper shaft and inclined downwardly and rearwardly therefrom, a lower transverse shaft upon which the lower portion of the sweeper belt travels and journaled in the lower portions of the said side bars, the said lower portions of the side bars having laterally extending ears projecting outwardly through the'slots of the body, blocks carried by the said gears, nuts rotatably disposed in the blocks, inclined screw rods journaled in bearings on the body and extending through the ears and blocks and threaded through the said nuts, and a transverse shaft mounted in bearingson the rear portion of the body and having geared connections atits ends with the said screw rods, one end of for rotatingthe same in order to adjust the side bars, substantially as described,

' ALVIN BROWN. Witnesses:

CHARLES C. SMITH, GUSTAF A. ANDERSON.

- the said transverse shaft being extended and squared for the reception of an implement 

